Illinois Basketball: Keys to success for the Fighting Illini in 2019-20

3. More 3-point threats emerge.

Illinois ranked near the middle of the country last season in 3-point percentage, but this can largely be attributed to the efforts of Trent Frazier. The star guard shot 40.6% from 3-point range last season on 6.2 attempts per game. He lets it fly at high volume and is very difficult to stop. The only other player who shot better than 36% from deep was Aaron Jordan, who has now graduated. This leaves the team with only one proven elite shooter at the college level.

In order to maintain solid spacing for guards to attack the basket and for bigs to work down low, several players will need to take strides with regards to their perimeter shooting.

The most likely of these is Dosunmu, who shot 35.2% from distance on 4.4 attempts per game last year. He is already a solid threat from beyond the arc but is knocking on the door of becoming elite. This would be a huge development for the team and would also improve Dosunmu’s overall draft stock. Dosunmu and Frazier will be the stars of this team and they would form an extremely dynamic duo if both turned in >40% seasons from distance. It’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Additionally, rising sophomore wings/forwards Tevian Jones and Alan Griffin were heralded as solid shooters out of high school but that never materialized last season. With more consistent playing time, though, they could easily develop a rhythm and help space the floor with strong abilities in catch-and-shoot situations. With Dosunmu and Frazier as the lead playmakers, neither of these wings will have to create for themselves much on the perimeter.

Illinois will likely be a strong 3-point shooting team thanks to Frazier and Dosunmu as solid, high-volume options from deep. In order to take the next step, though, developing a few other perimeter threats would really open up their entire offense.